#also it was just annoying how messy the characterization and storylines got

[theriverdalereviewer]

let’s take a moment to mourn riverdale on here

[dilfdoctordoom]

Maeve Dilfdoctordoom I have to ask, what are your opinions regarding Requiem/Infinity Wars and the lead up to it, especially in regards to Gamora?

This kinda went longer than expected so, uh, enjoy the rant, I guess.

It's all bad. EVERYTHING THEY DID IN THAT IDIOTIC STORY... like can anyone actually explain Gamora's motivations? In a way that makes any sense for her character? And the whole fucking story it -- it would tease actual reasons behind what she's doing (part of her soul being gone affecting her, old Soulworld Gamora up to some shit, Thanos' ghost) and then as soon as those ideas were introduced... it felt like they were forgotten.

The entire event is so messy and incoherent and like -- I'm not one to go 'oh x can always beat y' because, you know, comics, sliding powerscale, whatever, BUT MAGUS. WOULD NOT DIE TO ULTRON. I find that so beyond ridiculous and just??? What even is the Magus' timeline here. Last I saw him he was a kid but then he shows up with the soul stone just to be murdered.

And I get that reversing everything Galactus had going on back to the status quo was probably just an editorial mandate, but it was bad and boring and I didn't like it, which is upsetting, since I'd still say that sequence was the best of the entire event, it's build up, it's tie-ins, everything.

I'm pretty sure we only got Infinity Wars because the Infinity War movie was a thing (see: Civil War II dropping around the same time as the Civil War movie) and like, okay, whatever, more MCU bleed bullshit, but this was just... Reading it, I don't think the writer had any clue what he was doing.

AND IT'S TREATMENT OF GAMORA. God, when she'd come so far... it bothered me a lot. Keeping in mind that I read all her major appearances within, like, a month of each other... Infinity Wars kinda spits of everything Gamora stands for.

And is that to say that it couldn't have worked? No! A better writer would have found easy ways to explain her motivations that worked with what we've seen, but instead it's just... lol Gamora murdered trillions isn't she so evil.

The kiss between her and Peter is evil, actually, as it was the proper start to 616 Starmora.

The pacing of the series is so. nothing actually flows together. It has way too many ideas and no clue on how to use them. It genuinely feels like a bunch of concepts were thrown on a wall and they went with whatever stuck.

AGAIN, this annoys me because like... I would read some ridiculous cosmic bullshit event with Gamora, Logan, Adam Warlock, Loki, etc as the main characters. I would love that, it's just the type of weird line up that I'd enjoy... and instead. We got that.

I'm not gonna say that Duggan's run is without its merit, because it does present some interesting things, mainly with the return of Richard Rider to the world of Guardians, but, IDK, even that ended up falling flat. It was just weird that Rich didn't show up in the main storyline. Like... it's Gamora, Rich would do anything for her and Pete, and we'd gotten hints they'd gotten back together, but, no. Why have characters there that make sense when *checks list* Kamala Khan and Emma Frost can team up with Loki. Oh yes let's throw in some interdimensional versions of Phyla-Vell and Moondragon.

ANOTHER THING... I don't think the Guardians (specifically Peter, Drax and Gamora) got to really. react. to an alive Phyla-Vell??? And I'm not saying they were all best friends, but like... what. What the fuck. (Also I'm not entirely sure but I don't think Adam was, you know, dead when Duggan resurrected him).

There was just a lot of bad choices, poor pacing, shit characterization and all around terrible writing. Easily one of the worst comic events that I've ever read, because, despite reading it more than once, I cannot tell you the actual plot. I don't think it exists <3

Oh, but the art on the main series is beautiful.

[topaziraphale]

I am never one to shame people for their preferences but I just find it so incredibly boring that "sexy dominant demon" made its way into this fandom. I don't know, I just feel like reducing Crowley to the very thing that he tries so hard to embody is not it. His struggle with vulnerability and wanting to be taken care of but cannot let people in is a big part of his character, and I love when fanfics or art delves into that. This is just my take, though.

I agree. I try not to yuck other people's yums, mostly because fandom and headcanons are just for fun and, at the end of the day, nothing will change what's already there in the text. Headcanons are there for fun, and honestly, it really is fun to do. That's why we're all here, after all! Who am I to tell someone what to think?

But while I won’t demand anyone think the way I do (i mean, who does that?), that doesn't really stop me from personally getting bored and even annoyed when a fic makes Crowley only ever the mean-dark-sexy-evil demon he dresses himself up to be. Or when he's way too extremely-ultra-soft-and-sensitive and can't do anything without Aziraphale and needs his love in order to function. I, myself, don’t see the fun in these, for more reasons other than “That’s not how he would act, wtf?” 

This, uh, ended up getting really wordy because I have no self control and I never had buddies to rant about this meta to, so this is my outlet. The rest of it is under a cut. I’m apologizing in advance. You definitely weren’t expecting this much of a response, I reckon. 

TL;DR - I don’t like reductive headcanons for Crowley because they undermine the entire point for his character existing in the first place and it therefore makes him boring.

Before I get into it, I can't bring up the purpose of Crowley as a character without also including Aziraphale. Crowley, as he stands right now, would arguably be equally as pointless without Aziraphale there with him. And the same goes vice-versa. They complete each other - they were originally one character that got split into two, after all.

The story of Good Omens is commentating on the nature of human morality. Morality, as we know, can be gray, and messy, and confusing. Sometimes it really depends on how you look at it. What one person will see as evil, another will see as righteous. That’s just how humans are. And the entire concept of Morality cannot exist without being prefaced with the binary that is Good and Evil. That’s where Aziraphale and Crowley come in. They’re basically a giant metaphor for all that.

At the end of the day, they’re just a fun, interesting way to visualize the nature of human morality. They’re here to help build one of the main themes in the story. Their existence as an angel and a demon symbolize the Good and Evil binary, but it is their choices and actions that alienate them from the other angels and demons and thus make them more complex as characters, that truly completes the entire metaphor for morality.

This is probably why they’re not humans. The message with them wouldn’t be as unique if they were. Making them an angel and demon reinforces the symbolism and removes the gray bias that making them human would cause. 

That’s why they’re interesting enough to exist in this story as main characters despite doing virtually almost nothing to really impact the chain of events.

My point is, Aziraphale and Crowley cannot represent morality in this special way if they’re characterized to be just like any other demon or angel.  

If they’re characterized that way, then they aren’t serving the purpose they were created for. And if they can’t do that, then what’s the point of having them? It’s not like they have many actions that directly impact a major aspect of the storyline - and the ones they do have could probably be worked around. At that point, they’re just here for the aesthetic. That doesn’t make them interesting enough to be main characters.

That’s why I tend to not like those types of headcanons that simply reduce both Aziraphale and Crowley into exactly what they’re expected to be. Crowley can’t be as interesting as he is if he can’t be the symbol he was created to be. He can’t be that symbol that if he isn’t An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards. He is interesting BECAUSE you expect him to be a suave, sexy, silver-tongued handsome devil that is truly evil - but in reality, he’s actually a really nice person, has a soft spot for humanity, and is kinda dorky at times. 

Headcanons that make him a stereotypical mean sexy demon, or the ones that overdo his softness and vulnerability disturb the balance that he’s got going on. He’s practically someone else at that point. Crowley in canon part of a really interesting set up and dynamic - to change that dynamic by changing his personality into something that ultimately works against the key components that make it work in the first place simply makes him more boring of a character. That’s why I have a really tough time getting into those particular fanon interpretations of him over the ones that are closer to canon.

[travllingbunny]

I didn’t think of writing a post about one of the 15 or so shows that I’m watching/catching up on at the moment, especially not about Fear the Walking Dead, which sure isn’t one of my favorites. But after finishing season 3 (which many people have told me was the show’s best season, but which I found a very mixed bag) I need to have a rant. I felt very ranty throughout season 3, all because of the treatment of one character, which feels like something that isn’t specific to this show. Yes, I know I’m gonna be ranting about storylines that most other people saw 3 years ago, but here it is anyway.

(Note: I’ve only just finished season 3 and I know only a couple of spoilers about the following seasons.)

Also, yes, I know I’m a dummy for even trying to watch another show in this franchise and expecting better results. I guess, even after dropping The Walking Dead halfway through season 8 (at least 2-3 seasons too late), I still haven’t been weaned fully. (A bunch of people have been telling me that TWD got much better with the new showrunner; however, since I’m aware that SPOILER Negan is still alive and got some sort of a “redemption arc”, no, thanks, I have absolutely no desire to go back to that.)

Season 1 of Fear the Walking Dead remains my favorite season of this show - and it was also, not coincidentally, the one that was the most different from The Walking Dead, focusing on the family dynamics and the early days of the outbreak in the city.

Season 2 was very messy, and 3 was somewhat better than season 2, but it also had even more of the worrying trends of doing a lot of the same crap that TWD does, particularly with 

1) killing off so many of the original main characters that it destroys the entire premise - the entire Manawa family has been killed off now (Travis' death particularly angered me - though I've since heard it was done for the stupid Avatar sequels), Ofelia got killed off just as she had become more interesting, which makes Daniel the only survivor of his family, too (then they also killed his substitute daughter Lola) and the spoilers about those other 2 deaths make it all even worse.

2) all the TWD-style gratuitous mass killing off of every new group we meet. It especially doesn't look good how easily they killed off the entire colonia, mostly off-screen, in the premiere. At least the white people from the ranch (and an occasional Native American who happened to be in that group) got death scenes and names, but who cares about mass killing of a bunch of Mexicans, right?

Daniel still being alive was my favorite thing about this season and restored my interest in the show after I got upset by the killing off of Travis and the people from the colonia. Alicia got more interesting this season and had some strong episodes, and I'm glad that at least Walker and Crazy Dog are still alive.

But after a while, I got increasingly annoyed at the ranch storyline, and the reason can be summed up in one word: Troy. 

Now, Troy himself is not a bad character - he is a really well acted villain, like a grown up Joffrey Baratheon. But the way people around him kept mollycoddling and covering up for him made other characters so much worse, and I mean mainly Nick and Madison. 

The only thing that redeemed this arc was Madison finally killing Troy in 3x15, after he revealed he led the horde to the ranch and made it clear he didn't regret anything he had done and said he'd do it again.  I thought she was going to just punch him, so I was even happier when she killed him with a hammer.  At least that's one thing that I've been relieved about - no "redemption arc" for Troy, thank God! He won't be the new Negan!

The only problem - she should have done that so much earlier. She annoyed me earlier in the season when she covered up for him in front of the ranch people, for the murder of the family, blaming Walker, justifying it with "Walker's people killed Travis". Hello? Troy tried to murder Travis, threw him to fight against a bunch of zombies, and if Travis had survived, well, I don't think Jeremiah and most of the people at the ranch would've been happy to see him (were there not enough signs they were racist)?  She also had zero reason to convince Walker not to kill him and not to kill him when she took him to 'exile' and he immediately killed a man and she still went "I don't want to kill you' - why? Just kill him! I roll my eyes whenever a villain is 'exiled' in a post-apocalyptic show, you always know they're going to come back and cause trouble. Just kill him or keep him imprisoned if you don't want to kill him.

But then Nick got even worse. The entire 'friendship' he had with Troy was such BS. We were apparently supposed to think that both Nick and Madison see some sort of a parallel between Troy and Nick, like "they're both black sheep of the family". Is the show saying that being a drug addict is the same as being a deranged unrepentant serial murderer? Disgusting. 

This clearly can't be about morality etc. since they don't seem to care nearly as much about all of the people Troy murdered or got killed throughout the season. He really caused 90% of the deaths and it kept happening, and I wondered, just how many people need to be sacrificed at the altar of the deranged white boy that they keep protecting because he has a sad backstory or something? He almost murders Nick and his girlfriend, murders the people Nick lived with in the colonia and led there, promising them safety, and then Nick gets all buddy buddy with him? WTF. 

*rant over*

Character rankings as of the end of season 3: 1. Daniel 2. Strand 3. Alicia 4. Liza (either you die early, or you live long enough for the show to make you annoying) 5. Travis (would've been higher if it wasn't for some questionable writing at the end of his arc) 6. Walker 7. Lola 8. Crazy Dog  (not enough characterization yet, but he's been good so far in what I've seen. Also, he's hot :)  9. Madison (fell a lot in the rankings during season 3, only got better towards the end_) 10. Ofelia (just going by season 3, she'd be higher, but she was kind of bland in seasons 1-2) 11. Luciana (mostly gets to be here because of how annoying the show has made Nick, and because she was smart enough to leave) 12. Nick (Why does the show go from making me like Nick to making him annoying by making him cozy up to the most hateful villains (Celia in season 2 and Troy in season 3)? ) 13. Chris (I still don’t know WTF they were doing with him; if the end goal was to make him a villain, they shouldn’t have killed him off and should’ve kept him as an antagonist)

[coldtomyflash]

What do you think of Dick's portrayal in the various tv and movie adaptations? I first saw him in Batman TAS and loved him from the start. But the reboot came around and Tim replaced him as deuteragonist. Also the fallout with his relationship with Barbara (which I once loved) got even worse in Batman Beyond (in which he never appeared on screen) and the comic with the Bruce/Barbara/baby storyline. In the end it was like the writers hated him and in recent movies he takes a back seat to Damian.

“various TV and movie adaptations”

... movie adaptations?

We haven’t seen Dick in a movie in like 20 years. Unless you mean DC’s animated films, like Justice League: War, and similar?

But okay, what an awesome question.

If you check out my previous post (here), you’ll discover quickly that pretty much one of my favourite portrayals of him is Young Justice. I thought they did an amazing job in Season 1 with showing the depth of him (and of most of the main characters honestly) and all the different layers he has in terms of identity, including with his friends, with the league, with leadership, and with Bruce. The time-skip from him being Robin to him being an adult, self-assured Nightwing was a bit of a letdown because that transition is messy, but the characterization was still great.

I also loved him in Batman TAS but I haven’t watched that in so long. Definitely what go me originally into superhero media (well okay I remember being 4 years old and watching the old live action Adam West Batman but like, does that count? I guess it has to, because Dick is straight up hilarious in that, but like, characterization wise idk what to even say about that version). Anyway in TAS we get that whole tension of Dick’s role and identity vis a vis being Batman’s sidekick and I’m really into that. That portrayal is probably like the foundation, stone number one, when it comes to understanding Dick Grayson.

As for Batman Beyond - okay I love Batman Beyond, really and truly, but tbh I kind of think of it like... an alt-universe, almost like a... fic. I think of it like someone’s Batman AU in which they created an OC as a protagonist. And I’m into it! But I don’t really connect it with the rest of the Batman or DC canon if I’m being honest. Terry is great, I adore him, he actually reminds me a lot of Dick, but yeah wtf is going on with the implied fallout between Bruce and Dick and Dick not even being in the show. Idk. Doesn’t count. Side-step that weird non-canon.

(I mean, fucking tell me they’re not basically writing Dick with a different name here.)

Don’t touch Bruce/Barbara. Stick your fingers in your ears and sing la la la la la la at the top of your lungs until it goes away. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Do not let DC continue until that storyline is wiped from the face of the earth.

As for the recent animated films, typically they’re not focused on Dick but they do a half-decent job with him. I do like the Son of Batman (or whatever it’s called) animated film where they introduce Damian to the plot; Dick is pretty good in that even though his role is more minor. I haven’t watched the one with Harley Quinn yet where she’s helping Bruce and Dick but I really want to, it looks like it has some potentially entertaining Dick content in there.

(except that hair. What did they do to my handsome boi?)

What I tend to like about the modern animated films is that they get the snark right? They have these people make fun of each other and themselves, they get to be deadpan, they take the comics storylines and bring them to life in bite-sized chunks that are easier to digest. They also tend to have awesome voice-acting. They’re very much designed for pre-existing comics fans and are light on exposition as well, which makes me a good target audience. So I don’t tend to get too annoyed with the characterization in any of them, in part because they’re often pulling directly from pretty good comics arcs.

So the comics - (whoo boy this is getting long!)

I am in the small and Unpopular camp of people who kind of liked the entire goddamn mess that had Dick’s identity revealed to the world in... was that New 52 Forever Evil? i think it was; I have it on my shelf. I mean - we got some of Bruce and Dick’s dynamic and how much Bruce cares for Dick, and I’m all about that, but it was also like a shockwave in the Batfam because holy shit.

That being said, I’m not sure how much I like the direction taken, with the spiral agents and all that. I mean - Dick is Nightwing. And while him going undercover or being a spiral agent is kind of fun, the inherent problem with the identity reveal that they can’t really take back is that he can’t be allowed to be Nightwing anymore. So in that sense I also really fucking hate it. 

And then Dick being Batman for a while when Bruce is off being Not Quite Dead? I like Dick and Damian’s dynamic (kind of) but again it seems like backtracking to me. The way I interpret Dick is so much as his own person that for him to put on the cowl feels... wrong. Like he specifically doesn’t want to be Batman? And it feels like this authorial obsession with Batman, and with their always being a Batman. Like - Gotham needs the Bat fam, not just the Bat man. Y’know? 

I don’t mind the recent focus on Damian, though I think my biggest issue with it is that it kind of felt for a while like “ah yes, Bruce has a true son now, time to give him all the narrative weight, who cares about the rest of these former Robins” and I wasn’t in to that. Which is nothing against Damian. 

(I want more batfam hugs! not just Damian! but also yes this is cute)

But the Batfam is only as interesting and their connections to each other, y’know? I’d love to see more focus on Tim, tbh, on Tim and Jason, on that whole mess and its resolution, on Jason and Dick, on Dick coming to terms with his family colours being passed down, on what it meant for him when Jason died, on what it meant for him when he met Tim. Let’s explore more of that in the movies and animated series, please!!

(I guess we get some of that in DC’s Titans? I hope so. I need to catch up. Dick so far seems complex and angry, which I’m into, but also like... Dick Grayson is a beacon of hope, okay. That’s who he is. A version of Dick that isn’t inherently trying to help and save everyone is kind of hard to wrap my head around. I’m not fully sure how I feel about him yet, but I do like the series).

Oh I totally forgot to talk about Teen Titans. I haven’t watched Teen Titans Go, but boy howdy did I love the original Teen Titans. I was just the right age when it came out to be the target audience and I very much enjoyed Robin in that series, at least as well as I can remember. And Lego Batman which is hilarious.

Okay that’s all for me now. I’ll go back to pretending I’m a Flash blog or something.

[steviesays]

I agree with that post about the criticism of TLJ vs other films. What did you think of TLJ overall?

oh my god an anon asking me my opinion this is the most exciting thing thats ever happened to me

ok but for real though here we go buckle down folks this is probably going to be long as hell

overall like many Star Wars fans I was unfortunately a bit disappointed with tlj and was shocked with the direction that rian johnson decided to go with both the characterizations of our faves and the plot (both of which I’ll get into in a sec). however this doesn’t mean that this was a BAD movie. I enjoyed the film. yes I said it. I have many major critiques but while I was sitting there watching it, there were moments that I felt deeply for the characters, moments that I wanted to jump out of my seat, and the ending built up to a promising looking sequel that I’m definitely going to watch and tbh thats all that really matters in a movie.

now on to all the parts I didnt like lmao

as for the characterization of most of the main characters, the ones that stuck out to me the most and the ones I’ll get into here are Luke, Poe, Hux, and I want to talk a little bit about Rose. Luke is the one that hit me the hardest because Luke is the OG. everyones number one. LUKE MOTHERFUCKING SKYWALKER. now, my main complaint is the same one that most other people have, he’s too pessimistic and his actions at his Jedi school just dont make sense in the context of his character. how could the person that couldn’t even kill Darth Vader raise a lightsaber to his own nephew? who hadn’t even really done anything yet? as what, a preventative measure? when kylo ren was the first to tell this story in the movie I was like theres no fucking way hes bullshitting but when it turned out to be true???? I was literally taken aback. Luke’s explanation for it as a split second thought was the only way to bring this to the very edge of my believability, but even then, it was very difficult for me to wrap my mind around the character whose whole being is based on forgiveness and finding a way when all hope is lost even thinking about doing something like that and then just giving up when all of it is over. I was actually talking about this moment with my brother (we had a two hour long conversation about Star Wars after he watched the movie that I will also reference when I start talking about Rose) and we both agreed that this moment was a bit forced. he put into words something that I was trying to say all along and it made so much sense, in the movies they were trying to show how kylo ren’s sense of distrust and his anger towards Luke and his family came to be and instead of doing it right by showing it happening in small, subtle actions they decided to just have one huge obvious physical manifestation of betrayal and tbh it was lazy and bad characterization and thats what all the fans saw when the saw the movie and what mark saw when he first read the script

sorry that was long now on to my homeboy poe

I honestly feel like poe was demonized too much in this movie and made to look like some kind of lost kid playing soldier and it really annoyed me ??? like he was one of the top commanders of the resistance and to just have him completely thrown to the wayside like this in this movie just felt like …. why was he even in it? to get everyone killed? same with Finn and rose and honestly while I’m here let me talk about her too since I was going to bring her up later. I might get hate for this but rose honestly felt like a filler character to me. I just dont get any type of differentiation from her than from the rest of the resistance other than the fact that she now has a bit of a backstory. theres nothing particularly interesting about her character. shes just there. I feel like she had a lot of potential and it was just kind of wasted. I also thought the kiss at the end with Finn was ULTRA forced. like they were fine as friends but there was no romantic undertone until that moment like where did it come from and why? it was just there all of a sudden. now heres where my brothers commentary comes back into play because he really enjoyed tlj. he thought the romance was necessary and that it worked. keep in mind this is a straight, single, 25 year old man thats never been in a long term relationship. I think this has a lot to do with how people of different perspectives interpreted this movie. what does everyone else think because so far, on my dash everyone has been SILENT on that kiss. keep in mind im a kylux blog so I follow a lot of that side of the fandom but I do follow a few light side blogs too although many are caught up in the reylo stuff. I really dont think a romance arc is necessary at all but if its put in I want it between characters that actually have good romantic chemistry like Finn and poe or maybe Finn and Rey im holding out for kylux but I know its not happening lmfaooo

anyway onto the last person I want to talk about my cupcake domhnall

now hux hasn’t played a very big roll (seemingly) in the series so far and it was great to see him on screen more in tlj but good god at what cost. in the first movie he was calm cool and collected, a respected general that took shit from no one, and in this he was the joke of the movie taking hits from cringe-worthy jokes and just generally looking the opposite of what he did in tfa. it was honestly kind of hard to see because hux was one of my favorite characters in tfa and domhnall is one of my favorite actors (if you cant tell by my blog) and its just going to be weird to see where they pick him back up again in episode 9

oh my god I just realized I only talked about the characters and haven’t even gotten to the plot yet go grab some popcorn or something I have a lot more to say

first I want to talk about how this movie was set up as a whole. it was separated into three different storylines from the very beginning, Rey and Luke on the island, the resistance’s fight with the first order, and Finn and rose’s plan to invade the first order by themselves. I didn’t like this because it just made it feel too messy and very long. this whole movie was supposed to take place over a matter of a few days, but as it was jumping back and forth, it would be on a scene with Rey and then it would jump back to the resistance and I would be like damn theyre STILL doing this. tlj was a decently long movie but sitting there it felt like it was three hours+

In addition to that, I feel like a way they could have avoided this would be to cut out Finn and rose’s part, include them with the rest of the resistance instead of giving them a side plot that was doomed to fail from the start, and work with that. I really dont understand why it was necessary to separate them at all. their plan didnt work, they got most of the resistance killed in the process, there was no solid reason for them to go on this little adventure other than what? character development? if thats your excuse there are better ways to do it

ok this is the part that I was 1000000000% confused about. Carrie’s death. they had it. they literally had a scene with her dying. they had it ???? and then they Jesus’d her back to life ??????????? I was sitting in that theater WASTING MY TEARS because KYLO FUCKING REN COULDNT PULL THE TRIGGER AND THEN MY MOM DIED and then she lived ?????????? I have honestly never been so confused in my life. if I could have a time machine I would go back to that moment just so I could see the look on my own face because I know that shit was ridiculous. how the fuck is jj going to deal with this in the next movie though? rian LITERALLY had a scene with carrie dying in it. USED IT IN THE MOVIE. said nah fuck jj abrams he can figure this shit out on his own. and brought that bitch back to life. like honestly how much do they hate each other because I really didnt understand the magnitude until I watched that scene.

I cant think of anything else major I want to talk about right now but this is already ridiculously long anyway so if anyone has any questions they want to ask me my ask box and messages are always open!

[qveenpoppy]

so... review time, here goes

the songs were great! any time ben sang, it felt off - maybe bc i wasn’t sure if it was actually mitchell singing or not - but otherwise, the music was fantastic. “it’s going down” blew me away. the “what’s my name” performance absolutely blew me away. even the ending song was fun. i’m glad the music was more consistent this time around. my only issue was no actual singing from thomas - if you’ve watched the lodge, you’d know he is as good a singer he is dancer, and he’s amazing at both, so. sad he didn’t get a chance to show that off as much in the movie.

speaking of which, thomas was just amazing in this movie in general? like he did such a good job playing harry, even to the point where the character was kind of insane (and very, very gay), and i loved the performance so much. such an excellent villain, i hope he comes back for the third film (if/when it happens) and has a much bigger role.

everyone did a good job as their respective characters, my only issue was the writing, really. the pacing seemed off - the film didn’t have a set beginning, middle, and end. like, they saved ben and you’re like “okay, so that’s it, right?” and then you realize there’s another hour and you wonder what could possibly happen next. the characterization also was off at times, like i get mal doesn’t quite want to be in auradon but i also don’t feel like she’d be so emotional? and also why did she take her mom with her to the isle? what happened to that, anyway? that was just like some big plot hole that never got resolved. and there were a fair amount of other cringe-worthy lines thrown in the mix.

i was surprised by how much i liked gil, though, even with the limited screen time. he was a ditz but he was fun. i especially loved when he told ben to tell belle that his dad said hi. it was quite funny and fit his character (and gaston’s, bc even after being revived he would probably still try to woo her). 

carlos and jane were obviously one of my least favorite things about the film. i’ll admit they were kind of cute during the cotillion scene, with all the dancing, but they make better friends. jane dates lonnie, carlos dates jay. perfect solution, right?

(speaking of them, agender/trans carlos? sign me up.)

one plus of the film was all the shipping opportunities. i found myself liking ben/evie way more then ben/mal. their chemistry seemed far more natural. (not that ben/mal isn’t cute, but i wasn’t feeling it as much in this film.) harry was v gay for ben, but also had a lot of sexual tension with uma, who also 100% has a history with mal. basically i ship everyone with everyone. except janelos, lol.

lonnie’s storyline was actually quite brilliant especially considering how it parallels to her own mother’s story. i wish we got a cool training montage with her and jay.

i forgot how annoying chad actually is. guess i created my own version of him that i liked more. he’s even more of a dick in this movie, but his obsession with audrey was funny. (though mentioning her constantly without actually having her in the film? horrible. bring her back for the third film.)

cgi was, well, not good, but i guess that was expected for a tv movie. i mean, it was alright at times, like the whole bg when they were on the boat, or in the limo heading to the isle, but uma and her tentacles were not good. mal the dragon was okay, but that whole scene brings us back to the plot hole thing and poor script. that part was so messy i really wish it wasn’t there. there needs to be some explanation for how mal can transform into a dragon, or how uma could spell ben on the isle where there is no magic??? unless she somehow snuck into the limo, but i’m not sure how that would have happened with the bridge being destroyed.

going back to plot, i wish the new vks had some redemption. or at least a chance at it by coming to auradon. they talked about sending some kids over, but does that include vks like harry and gil? it should.

of course, the film ends with a cliffhanger leaving the door wide open for a third film. i’m glad the writers are hopeful and ambitious but that also wasn’t necessary. my only real hope for a third film is for a union between the isle and auradon. oh, and a theatrical release. that bigger budget could really help with those cgi problems. and if hsm3 could get to the big screen, why can’t descendants 3? also a better script. and some lgbt representation. it’s 2017. we can handle it. it'll be good to expose kids to that. ignore homophobic midwestern moms. do it, disney, come on.

[hawkland]

for the in depth fandom questions: svu

@adarafaelbarbas also asked for my SVU thoughts, so here you both go! 

And it got long, so I’m putting it all behind cut….

Top 5 favourite characters: Top 2 are no surprise to anyone: John Munch & Fin Tutuola of course. After that? At the moment I’d probably have to say Casey Novak, George Huang, and Don Cragen. But that can vary a bit depending on which episodes/seasons I’ve been watching recently.

Other characters you like: Hmm, well, I’d say I “like” most of the regulars through the years, or else I wouldn’t be a fan in the first place, would I? If I had to pick say five more to round out my top 10, though, I’d probably go with Melinda Warner, Alex Cabot, Olivia Benson of the early seasons, Nick Amaro, and Rafael Barba. 

Least favourite characters:  Chester Lake, any of the ever-changing ADAs from seasons 10-12, Dale Stuckey (you bastard you killed O’Halloran!), Elliot Stabler from about season 6 onward, Olivia Benson from at least season 16 onward (though she started annoying me at times far before that, especially in her attitude toward Rollins and Amaro in Season 13).

Otps: Munch/Fin, of course, before any others! I also ship Cabenson pretty hard; it was probably my first ship when I was watching the show originally. 

Notps: Eeeeeh, I always sort of tread lightly around declaring NOTPs because there are a lot of ships I don’t particularly care for, but my reasons can be weird/personal and I don’t like stirring up wank talking about them or the reasons why. But I will say that I definitely never liked E/O as a romantic ship, only as friends. And I have a personal squick for shipping Fin with anyone but Munch because I just want them to be together (and yet I’ll ship Munch with pretty much anyone else, though maybe not as an endgame ship, so I’m kind of a hypocrite that way? IDK…) I didn’t care for Tuckson, and Barisi…I just honestly don’t really see it, and while I’ve tried reading it in fic I’ve rarely found a story that convinced me or felt in character to my mind.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Favourite friendships: Munch/Cragen, Fin/Amanda, Munch/Amaro, Munch/Benson, Bensler (early seasons before it all got fucked up)

Favourite family: I guess I’ll say Fin, because as messed-up as it may be, I do enjoy the episodes featuring Ken & I love the idea of Fin becoming a grandfather. I also really really want Ken & Alejandro to be together and be happy!

Favourite episodes: With so many seasons it’s hard to narrow it down to even a top 10. But some of the ones I will always rewatch when they’re on include Remorse, Nocturne, Legacy, Manhunt, Countdown, Denial, Careless, Painless, Haunted, Scavenger, Parts, Raw, Screwed, Alternate, Cold, Authority, Zebras, Anchor… ie, most of the very Fin and/or Munch-centric ones.

Favourite season/book/movie: Seasons 2 and 5 are my favorites—2 for the way the team really came together and so many of the cases/episodes featured ALL of the detectives working as a unit. 5 for some of the most interesting cases and the whole loss of Alex/introduction of Casey storyline.

Favourite quotes: Ah, so many but a few off the top of my head:

“If you don’t question authority, you lose your humanity.”

“I just know stuff.”

“That’s my Jew.”

“Once god gives you a uterus, then I’ll listen to your sermon.”

“Even a turd can float.”

Best musical moment: The final montage in Screwed set to Mark Isham’s “Sense of Touch”. The music is perfect and the ending of that episode always gets me emotional.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: How do I even narrow it down?!?! Munch and Fin sharing a motel room in Manhunt, maybe, and finally having a bit of a heart-to-heart. That or when Ken has dinner with John to introduce Alejandro because I still insist there is no possible heterosexual context to that scene whatsoever.

When it really disappointed you: Oh so so many times but, probably one of the biggest disappointments for me was last year, all the hype about “Munch returns” when he ended up having all of about 2 minutes screen time—and really didn’t get to have any good interactions with anyone other than Benson & Noah.

Saddest moment: Munch’s retirement. You know, I still cannot watch that episode in its entirety? I’m not ready for the emotional gut-punch.

Most well done character death: Mmm…I might go with Sonya Paxton on that, because it was emotional and sad and yet she also was able to at least, in her death, provide evidence to catch her (and others) killer. Unlike Sister Peg and O’Halloran’s deaths which just felt cheap and unnecessary…and I won’t even go into how I feel about how they killed Mike Dodds (that’s why @ladyzootie and I are working on a story to set THAT right!)

Favourite guest star: Robin Williams in Authority, though I also loved Jeremy Irons, especially in his second appearance in Totem. As much as I love Huang, I would have enjoyed seeing more of Dr. Jackson as well; Irons was perfect in that role and brought a lot to the show with his character.

Favourite cast member:  Don’t make me choose between the Belz and Ice-T! I love them both too much to pick a favorite.

Character you wish was still alive: Mike. Dodds.

One thing you hope really happens: That the show either brings on a new full-time detective for the unit or starts using more supporting characters again: show the detectives going to the morgue, working with TARU, working with a psychiatrist instead of having Benson diagnosing and doing everything herself. But, I’m not holding out great hope for that.

Most shocking twist: Shocking in a not-good way: Tuckson. Sorry, I never bought it, I don’t see all this so-called evidence that the writers were “setting it up” for seasons before it happened. Total WTF??!?! for me.

When did you start watching/reading?: I actually vividly remember watching the pilot episode when it first aired in 1999. I’ve pretty much followed it on and off since then, watching regularly at least on thru Season 9 or so and I think that’s about when I lost at least some of my interest. But that said, I was mostly a casual fan until about 2 years ago when I really fell hard into it in a “fannish” way, after rewatching old episodes in reruns.

Best animal/creature: THE MONKEY IN THE BASKETBALL

Favourite location: The original squad room.

Trope you wish they would stop using: SAINT BENSON IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN DO EVERYTHING IN THE SQUAD. ENOUGH ALREADY.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: Errrr…hmm. These days I can’t think of anything it does better than other shows besides bore and/or annoy me, sorry. In the earlier seasons I’d say it was unique in the way it tackled messy, painful, and often controversial issues of sexuality and “sexually based offenses”. It wasn’t always perfectly PC but it did a good job of presenting complexity and showcasing how societal ideas were changing and being challenged—without just feeling like a soapbox.

Funniest moments: All of Wildlife is pretty hysterically bad but in an entertaining way. In fact Mr. Hawkland just saw it for the first time this weekend and was laughing hysterically at some of the lines in it. But also Countdown, for having such a dark plot, is one of my favorites for all of the great one-liners and funny scenes ( “I’m not tipping all of you”, Munch and the empty coffee can, etc.)

Couple you would like to see: Ha ha ha ha, well of course Munch & Fin, but I know that will never happen. And honestly, even if it did I wouldn’t want it to be acknowledged as canon until the very last episode. Because the writers would surely fuck it up otherwise the way they do every other romance on this show. Otherwise I do kind of like Rollisi, not in an OMG I LOVE THEM sort of way but I do see potential for chemistry, and that Carisi could be a good kind of stabilizing influence on her with her crazy family life. But, would she in turn be good for him? That I’m not so sure about.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: I would SO love to see more of Bayard Ellis. His character was great and such a good foil to Benson. I’d love to see Andre Braugher return to the role.

Favourite outfit: Any of Fin’s suits in season 2.

Favourite item: Fin having a picture of Spartacus and Maximus (Ice’s dogs) on his desk (which I never noticed until @sammael77 caught it!)

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: A few fan-produced t-shirts, magnets and other odds and ends, my MunchFin iPhone case, and seasons 1-15 on DVD

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: My “squad goals” would be the team from seasons 5-8: Munch, Fin, Benson, Stabler, Cragen, Novak, Warner, Huang. That’s my all-time favorite team. 

Most boring plotline: Anything involving the Stabler family.

Most laughably bad moment: “Redchannit”

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: Eh, I think the few times they’ve done as much haven’t been very good. I know I really disliked the way they repurposed season 1 footage for Manhattan Vigil to change what those scenes were initially about.

Most layered character: All right so it’s maybe my bias talking, but Munch! Especially because I “cheat” and include all of his Homicide characterization too. But honestly…Munch really is a lot more than a sarcastic conspiracy theorist. I think where I really love the complexities of his character coming through are his struggles with issues like suicide and assisted suicide, which came through not just in Painless but also Mercy. On one hand he’s such a strong personal choice advocate and on the other, he knows first-hand how difficult it is for family members when a loved one commits suicide. And what about protecting those who are not being given the choice to end their life or live?

But also, I love that he’s one of the few (main) characters the show ever allowed to remain childfree, yet he was also shown to be incredibly caring and good with children (illustrating that not all childfree people hate or are bad with kids; they just know they aren’t meant to raise one full-time.) He has complicated feelings about women, sometimes (especially early on) seeming incredibly bitter and cynical but deep down he is a lonely romantic. 

Most one dimensional character: Honestly, at this point, St. Benson the Holy Redeemer of All Rape Victims. 

Scariest moment: Hmmm…I’m having a hard time pinpointing this or narrowing it down to a single “scariest” scene. In general I get freaked out any time they show a serial killer’s “work den”, like in Manhunt or Signature. Because thinking about what those victims had to go through before being killed just makes me really feel sick to my stomach and horrified.

Grossest moment: Hyena vomit

Best looking male: Dammit, don’t make me pick between Munch or Fin because I can’t.

Best looking female: Casey Novak

Who you’re crushing on (if any): Of the current cast, only Fin, who just seems to be getting hotter with every passing year. Of all years, of course Munch, but I also crush on Casey and early season baby!butch Benson. 

Favourite cast moment: I think I’ll just say all of the episode Countdown, because to me that was ensemble perfection.

Favourite transportation: Eh, doesn’t really seem to apply here to this canon, does it?

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Still gonna go with the end of Screwed, because I love that final scene with Fin, Ken and Darius on the courtroom steps.

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: 

Hahahahahahahah so many so many….

Continuity/plot error: It still bugs the crap out of me (especially as a fic writer who is anal about canon facts) that in Season 2 they messed with Munch’s background from Homicide, and tried to make it sound like he grew up in New York. THAT IS WRONG WRONG WRONG. I’m not going to throw away the family/childhood details we got in Homicide just because the SVU writers were lazy. And it really pains me because it comes up in two of my otherwise favorite episodes (Legacy and Manhunt), so when I’m writing anything where that might come up I have to go through mental gymnastics to explain why he might lie. Or just ignore SVU’s “canon” on that

Unanswered question: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO KEN & ALEJANDRO’S BABY? THAT POOR SURROGATE HAS BEEN PREGNANT FOREVER. Unless that’s just something they’ve completely forgotten about and we’re just to assume Fin is a grandfather now and never talks about it at work while everything and anything Olivia or Amanda does has to relate to them being mothers.

Best promo: Well, I really liked USA Network’s recent “Fin-a-thon” promo…especially for Ice talking about Fin & Munch.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book:  I’ve mentioned this before, but the funny moment when I went from being a casual viewer to developing my current obsession was in Spousal Privilege when Fin said to Amanda: “ I learned two things in my 15 years here at SVU. One: you can’t take this job home to you. Two: you can’t take anyone from this job home with you.” I hadn’t been watching regularly for a number of years so immediately I was like, “WAIT A MINUTE DID HE JUST ACKNOWLEDGE HAVING A THING WITH MUNCH?!” It’s weird the things that set my shippy brain off. Suddenly I wanted to catch up on everything I missed, and that made me then want to rewatch EVERY episode, and mild fannishness became a total obsession.